ENCINO : Hearing Scheduled on Water Standards

A request by Los Angeles water officials for an extension in meeting state water-quality standards at four reservoirs is the subject of a public hearing set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Department of Water and Power General Office Building at 111 N. Hope St. in Los Angeles.

The utility missed a June 29 deadline to begin filtering water exposed to the elements at Upper and Lower Hollywood, Stone Canyon and Encino reservoirs and has since been required to inform customers that drinking water in the reservoirs poses risks of water-borne diseases.

DWP Water Quality Director Bruce Kuebler said the hearing before the California Department of Health Services could bear heavily on the confidence level of customers.

“If we get the extension, technically we’re not in violation,” Kuebler said. “But another important benefit is for the state to decide whether there is an unreasonable risk to health. That will really affect the confidence customers have in the water.”

Though health officials’ findings will determine the nature of warnings the utility will be required to send patrons, the decision will not affect a recently signed agreement under which the DWP will build three water filtration plants at the reservoirs by the year 2003 at an estimated cost of $500 million.